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Perlmutter Bounced; Feige to directly report to Disney

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Didn't see a thread for this. THR has the scoop: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/marvel-shake-up-film-chief-819205

 

 

After what one source describes as "several years of frustration," Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has pulled off a reorganization of the vaunted film company that has him reporting to Disney studio chief Alan Horn as opposed to the infamously micromanaging Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac "Ike" Perlmutter.

 

Feige, the architect of Marvel's transition from a flailing comic book company into a film powerhouse that was sold to Disney for $4 billion in 2009, is said to have vented his unhappiness to Horn and Disney CEO Bob Iger earlier this summer. The reorganization was put into effect last week, according to sources.

 

Perlmutter will still be in charge of comics publishing and television productions though.

 

Interesting, I never knew Feige was this dissatisfied under Perlmutter. So, what does this mean for Marvel Studios? More creative risks and bigger budgets? What exactly did Perlmutter place restrictions on? Salaries?

Edited by Spidey Freak
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Interesting, I never knew Feige was this dissatisfied under Perlmutter. So, what does this mean for Marvel Studios? More creative risks and bigger budgets? What exactly did Perlmutter place restrictions on? Salaries?

I think Perlmutter and that ~ 'creative consulting team' also added input in 'creative' details, backed by the 'higher' position of Perlmutter (Feige reporting to him...) that might have made more impact than usually.

Those creatives got mentioned in interviews.... repeatedly over the last few years (since Feige took over)

 

Feige now reporting to someone who is actually based in movie making sounds less complicated and probably also faster for his day-to-day work as a studio head will know about e.g. cast/crew members... needing to know / sign a contract till a certain date out of other projects schedules... generally having also more own contacts, own working style and flow based on movie business too...  plus being a sole person not a team of people needeing to meet on short notice...

the o.K.s for some ideas, needs,.... should be more faster, the input probably more movie business orientated ....

 

I do see why the budget for CA 3 might have been a big problem, but I also hope they'll manage to stay with not too big budgets in general also, as I do see a possible danger for the long run, if those climb too high.

 

Alan Horn was at WB in the same position as they did e.g. Batman Begins / TDK and Harry Potter, not sure how far he was e.g. involved in Disney's Tomorrowland as he took over at Disney effective June 11 2012, means at least some creative / budget... decisions should be based on Sean Bailey and his people as Bailey greenlit it in June 2011.

The 'minus' I see is, he was an executive producer in Hobbit part 1, not sure who was the main force behind the decision to split Hobbit into a three-parter, but the descision for that was announced in July 2012 after he left WB, so I guess he might not been the 'criminal'  :ph34r:   ;)  behind that idea.

Horn extended his contract with Disney till the midth of 2018, that too might help with continuity of descisions, working flow....

 

In a way it seems to be a big step up the 'Disney internal picking order' for Marvel Studios too as Marvel Entertainment is still ~ Marvel, but Horn being the ~ boss of 'oversees production, distribution, and marketing for live-action and animated films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Lucasfilm, as well as marketing and distribution for DreamWorks Studios films released under the Touchstone Pictures banner. He also oversees Disney’s music and theatrical groups' means Marvel Entertainment then also had to ~ report to him in a way.

Dreamworks doesn't extend their distribution contract btw, but that doesn't surprise me.

 

I bbrought up the Tomorrowland example also to remind how late we movie viewers might even see the impact of a change in the production world.

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Looking at the Phase 3 line-up, all of them require near 200M (the reported budget for Guardians). Black Panther could be slighter cheaper but I don't see it going much below 170M (the budget for Thor: The Dark World). At this point, gone are the Phase 1 days when Perlmutter could cling on to his purse strings and issue "economical" blockbusters. Feige's vision for the MCU has become incredibly ambitious creatively speaking, and that requires an extensive use of resources. 

 

If Perlmutter was giving him a terrible time for Civil War, the very first film in Phase 3, and a film that is far more audience friendly than most of the other titles in their line-up, obviously Feige would rather walk away now than to see his vision constantly compromised beyond recognition.

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Didn't see a thread for this. THR has the scoop: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/marvel-shake-up-film-chief-819205

 

 

Perlmutter will still be in charge of comics publishing and television productions though.

 

Interesting, I never knew Feige was this dissatisfied under Perlmutter. So, what does this mean for Marvel Studios? More creative risks and bigger budgets? What exactly did Perlmutter place restrictions on? Salaries?

 

I'd hate to upset the apple cart given Marvel's success. If it aint broke, don't fix it. However, if Feige is dissatisfied, do whatever you can to make him happy.  :)

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I heard Marvel can be pretty stingy and cheap when it comes to salaries.

The stinginess came directly from Perlmutter. He insisted upon keeping salaries as low as possible and constantly fought Feige's attempts to make deals with the cast. There was a report by THR that some of the lead actors wanted to leave because they felt that the weren't getting their due.

Perlmutter has also been blamed for the lack of awards season support for Marvel's films. He has allegedly refused to mount campaigns even when the studio has received VFX and other technical nominations. He just refused to pay for ads in the trades or a PR push. At one point, Ike supposedly forbade Disney from paying for Oscar campaigns and Bob Iger backed down out of fear of angering the Marvel chief. Now that Perlmutter isn't making those decisions any more, Disney may step in and mount vigorous campaigns for nominations in the future.

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Perlmutter has been tightfisted ever since he took over Marvel Comics.

My only worry is that the budgets will start climbing. Even if the official $130m number for Ant-Man seems a little suspect - was it after Georgia tax credits or something? - solo films for new heroes shouldn't cost a ton. The coming new solo films shouldn't be spiraling out of control. Spend as much as you would have before, only with more generous salaries, and save the truly big budgets for the sequels and Avengers films.

Edited by TServo2049
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The reported $130m would be after tax credits but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a bit  higher with the delays.. All the reported or rumored budget numbers are post tax rebates. 

 

GOTG was almost $230m before and $196m after. (Gunn went about $20m over budget)  Not an inexpensive film by any measure especially for a new untested property with Z list heroes.  The budget turned out as big as IM3 and bigger than TWS and TDW.

 

But they were right about it working out and smartly budgeted lower for a smaller scale film like Ant-Man.  I don't think Dr. Strange, BP or Captain Marvel will lend themselves though to an Ant-Man sized budget but they should all easily be under GOTG and prob TWS and TDW.

Edited by TalismanRing
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